Former Boy Scouts of America leader sentenced in Tulsa to 7 years in federal prison for receiving child pornography

TULSA, Okla. — A former Boy Scouts of America Lodge Chief and Scout leader was sentenced Friday to seven years in federal prison for receiving child pornography.

U.S. Attorney Danny C. Williams Sr., Northern District of Oklahoma, announced this sentence. This case was investigated by the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

Kevin D. Woolsey, 22, of Jenks, Oklahoma, was sentenced by U.S. Court Judge Claire V. Eagan to serve 84 months, to be followed by 10 years of supervised release. On Sept. 19, 2013, Woolsey was charged by sealed Information with receiving child pornography; he pleaded guilty to the charge Nov. 5. Woolsey targeted boys between 14 to 16 years old who primarily participated in the Boy Scouts or who were members of a church youth group.

Specifically, Woolsey admitted that on or about May 19, 2012, he received one or more visual depictions of minors engaging in sexually explicit conduct. He created fictitious Facebook pages that falsely purported to belong to minor females known to the victims. Woolsey established communication with the victims through the Facebook pages. He then engaged the victims in sexually oriented conversation and sent the victims pornographic images. Posing as minor females, Woolsey requested photos from the victims, who sent the photos via the Internet to an email address Woolsey provided.

Woolsey received pornographic images from at least 11 minors. He created at least seven fictitious Facebook accounts posing as different female minors from the church youth group.

"The defendant used his position of authority to exploit and manipulate children," said U.S. Attorney Williams. "My office will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to punish those who would prey on the most vulnerable in our communities."

This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Gallant, Northern District of Oklahoma.

This investigation was conducted under HSI's Operation Predator, an international initiative to protect children from sexual predators. Since the launch of Operation Predator in 2003, HSI has arrested more than 10,000 individuals for crimes against children, including producing and distributing online child pornography, traveling overseas for sex with minors, and sex trafficking children. In fiscal year 2013, more than 2,000 individuals were arrested by HSI special agents under this initiative.

HSI encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free Tip Line at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE or by completing its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators. Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, via its toll-free 24-hour hotline, 1-800-THE-LOST.

For additional information about wanted suspected child predators, download HSI's Operation Predator smartphone app or visit the online suspect alerts page.

HSI is a founding member and current chair of the Virtual Global Taskforce, an international alliance of law enforcement agencies and private industry sector partners working together to prevent and deter online child sexual abuse.